My Adventures and Travels

 Although I started the school year in summer of 2020, ie during covid, I decided to travel within Indonesia for the first time during our October break. One of the other teachers goes to Raja Ampat every year and was able to secure a deal if he could get a big enough group, and I jumped at the chance. Although getting here and staying here was NOT cheap, I didn't want to pass it up. Googling "Raja Ampat" told me all I needed to know!  Sad dock. We were literally loading which is why some people are still on shore. This post is mostly the nuts and bolts, in case you're planning a trip of your own. Raja Ampat is pretty remote. From Jakarta we flew into Sorong (4 hours) which is on the island of Papua. From there, the resort arranged our pickup from the airport to the dock. Which *may* have actually collapsed while we were actually standing on it getting ready to board our boat!! We took the boat about 1.5 hours to a govt sign in and to pay the fee for our "yearly ...

Lucky for me, my summer break falls from mid-December and goes through mid-February. With nine weeks off, I had time to go home to Colorado, without feeling like I was missing out on too much of my travel time. I went home for about three weeks-what a whirlwind! It was wonderful, and exhausting. It seems like every night, I had plans with a different group of friends. It was *so* nice to see the family and friends I've been away from! It was also a little bit of "reverse culture shock" to go into stores and be reminded of how much STUFF is available in the U.S. For example, one of the things I used to take for granted is being able to eat whatever I want, no matter the season (Raspberries! In the middle of winter!). Not to mention all the food-stuff I had missed. I ate way too much. I drank way too much. I wouldn't have it any other way! The whole time I was home I was surrounded by loved ones and it was so nice. My mom asked me, is there one question that everyon...

I went up to my mom's house on Christmas Eve. We decorated the little tree while she was at work-see, before and after! We all opened one (okay, two!) presents that night, and did the rest the next morning.